Former PSJA North football player Jordan Brewster still remembers the moment he thought his football career was over.

Just seven plays into the season, the offensive lineman tore his MCL meniscus. The accident also caused other cartilage damage. 

“I blocked my guy into the end zone, and the whistle blew so I stopped," Brewster said. “Then I got hit in the knee and I heard four pops. I was like, ‘oh that doesn't sound right.’ I looked down at my knee and my knee cap isn't in place.”

Brewster was sidelined for nearly his entire senior season with the Raiders. He said he was told there was a possibility he'd never be able to play again.

DHR Health offered him hope with a procedure called MACI, a two-stage surgical procedure that uses a patient's own cells to repair knee cartilage damage.

“So then basically, what that does is restores the cartilage to what it was before,” DHR Health orthopedic surgeon Dr. Daniel Romanelli said. “It's a procedure that has a very high outcome rate. So about 95% of athletes get back to their sport.”

Romanelli operated on Brewster twice in 2024. 

The procedure is followed by a six-month rehabilitation process, with at least an additional three-month rehab process getting back into the sport.

Brewster is planning to make his official return on the football field in the fall 2025 season.

“I don't know what game it would be, but I want to eventually start football again, just not having limitations,” Brewster said.

In January, Brewster signed a letter of commitment to join the football program at Nelson University in Waxahachie. 

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